How do you measure success? Some people measure success by money. Some people measure success by power. Some people measure success by public opinion. On this father’s day I want to take a look at a man in the Bible who was considered a successful man. I believe many people have a warped idea of success.
I heard about two ladies who met for the first time after graduating high school together. One lady said to the other, “Have you managed to live a successful life?”
“Yes,” said the second lady, “I’ve been married four times.”
The first lady said “How does being married four times make you successful.”
The second lady said:
The first marriage was a millionaire- I married him for the money.
The second marriage was an actor- I married him the show.
The third marriage was a preacher- I married him to get ready.
The fourth marriage was an undertaker- I married him to prepare to go.
“My philosophy is, One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.”
Don’t you agree that joke is warped? Is it me or the joke? Success should not be measured by money. Success should not be measured by popularity. Success should be measured by God. I want to show you a man God measured as a success. “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” (Gen. 39:1-2) Let’s review the story. Joseph was a young Israelite man. He ran into conflict with his brothers and they sold him to a group of Ishmaelite traders who in turn sold him into Egypt. That is where the story picks up in our text. In the middle of that bad situation God called Joseph a success. If Joseph could be a slave in the land of Egypt and still be a success, there is hope for all of us.
Let’s begin by identifying what success is not. Success is not a matter of ideal circumstances. Remember, Joseph was a slave.
Sometimes we live in less than perfect circumstances. I heard about a young couple that illustrates this truth. This couple decided to get married. As the big day approached, they grew apprehensive. Each had a problem they had never before shared with anyone, not even each other. The Groom-to-be, overcoming his fear, decided to ask his father for advice. "Father," he said, "I am deeply concerned about the success of my marriage. I love my fiancée, very much, but you see, I have very smelly feet, and I’m afraid that my future wife will be put off by them." "No problem," said dad. "All you have to do is wash your feet as often as possible, and always wear socks, even to bed." Well, to him this seemed a workable solution. The bride-to-be, overcoming her fear, decided to take her problem to her mom. "Mom," she said, "When I wake up in the morning my breath is truly awful." "Honey," her mother consoled, "everyone has bad breath in the morning." "No, you don’t understand. My morning breath is so bad, I’m afraid that my new husband will not want to sleep in the same room with me." Her mother said simply, "Try this. In the morning, get straight out of bed, and head for the bathroom and brush your teeth. The key is, not to say a word until you’ve brushed your teeth. Not a word," her mother affirmed. Well, she thought it was certainly worth a try. The loving couple was finally married in a beautiful ceremony. Not forgetting the advice each had received, he with his perpetual socks and she with her morning silence, they managed quite well. That is, until about six months later. Shortly before dawn, the husband woke with a start to find that one of his socks had come off. Fearful of the consequences, he frantically searched the bed. This, of course, woke his bride, who, without thinking, immediately asked, "What on earth are you doing?" "Oh, no!" he gasped in shock, "You’ve swallowed my sock!" SOURCE: Pastor Tim, http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh
(Contributed by Sermon Central)
Success is not about being popular with everyone. Remember, Joseph was not popular with his own flesh and blood. His brothers disliked him.
If we are going to define success, on Biblical standards, let’s begin with our text and stick to the text. I want to use a little alliteration to define success. I want you to carry three words home with you.
1. Success begins with Faith in God. Notice verse 2 “The Lord was with Joseph.” Any success that Joseph may have attained came by way of the Lord. Let’s clarify a couple of things about faith. Faith involves a personal relationship. Over the years some people have said to me “I do not want to talk about my faith, it is a personal thing.” When people make such statements they usually mean, “leave me alone, you might find out the truth about my faith.” Real faith involves a personal relationship whereby we know the assurance of God’s abiding presence.
Ps. 23:4
Mt. 28:19
I Tim. 1:12
Faith involves the realization that everything you have and everything you own belongs to God.
A young boy by the name of James had a desire to be the most famous manufacturer and salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese and began with a little buggy pulled by a pony named Paddy. After making his cheese, he would load his wagon and he and Paddy would drive down the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese. As the months passed, the young boy began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work. One day he pulled his pony to a stop and began to talk to him. He said, "Paddy, there is something wrong. We are not doing it right. I am afraid we have things turned around and our priorities are not where they ought to be. Maybe we ought to serve God and place him first in our lives." The boy drove home and made a covenant that for the rest of his life he would first serve God and then would work as God directed. Many years after this, the young boy, now a man, stood as Sunday School Superintendent at North Shore Baptist Church in Chicago and said, "I would rather be a layman in the North Shore Baptist Church than to head the greatest corporation in America. My first job is serving Jesus." So, every time you take a take a bite of Philadelphia Cream cheese, sip a cup of Maxwell House, mix a quart of Kool-Aid, slice up a DiGiorno Pizza, cook a pot of Macaroni & Cheese, spread some Grey Poupon, stir a bowl of Cream of Wheat, slurp down some Jell-O, eat the cream out of the middle of an Oreo cookie, or serve some Stove Top, remember a boy, his pony named Paddy, and the promise little James L. Kraft made to serve God and work as He directed.
(Adapted by Brett Blair from Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Baker, p. 331. Contributed by SermonCentral)
James Kraft became who he was because God put him there. Everything you have comes from God. Do you recognize that truth?
2. The second word I want you to carry away is the word Faithful. You may profess to have faith but the real question is, are you faithful? Joseph was faithful to God, even in a hostile environment. He was a slave! He was living in Eqypt!
I used a quote a few weeks ago that I wish to repeat. “When that great scorer comes to write against your name, he’ll not write whether you won or lost but how you played the game.” A successful person is faithful to his responsibility. A faithful person is faithful to his assignment.
Illustration: When I served my first church, I learned a valuable lesson about being faithful. This church was a little tiny church located out in the country in rural north Louisiana. This church had a horrible music ministry. In fact, it had none. A sweet little senior adult lady stood by the piano and did her best to lead the music. It was dry! It was dull! It was all I could do to endure the music. However, God did not call me to serve a church---only if I enjoyed the music. He called me to be faithful.
Throughout the Bible there were individuals who faithfully served in spite of hardship.
- Joseph was faithful in Egypt.
- Job was faithful in spite of losing everything he owned.
- Daniel was faithful in spite of being thrown into a lion’s den.
- Paul was faithful in spite of being beaten and persecuted.
The Bible encourages us to be faithful in our circumstances, not be defeated by our circumstances.
- Phil. 4:13
- Rom. 8:35-39
I have shared with you my prayer that I will be faithful to God in the midst of an extremely difficult economic situation. I want to be used of God to transform my situation.
Let’s be real clear about our circumstances. Satan will attack you through your circumstances. The Bible says “the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter. 5:8
God will give us the strength to be faithful to our circumstances.
Several churches in North Dakota were served by a clever old preacher. The people were always amazed, for no matter what the circumstances, the preacher could always find something for which to be thankful. As he made his rounds one cold December morning, he was late in getting to worship because of excessive snow drifts. As he began the service with prayer, the parishioners were eager to see what the old preacher would give thanks on this dismal and frigid morning. "Gracious Lord," his prayer began, "we thank you that all days are not like today.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Maurice Schaus)
That, my friends, is victory over your circumstances.
There’s a story about a child psychologist who wanted to observe how different children respond to negative circumstances. They got a room and filled it with horse manure. Putting the pessimistic child in there, they observed how he responded. Predictably, he whined and cried, and despaired that he was in a room full of smelly manure. They put the other child in there, and the little guy started tearing around the room, digging in the manure with an excitement that baffled the on-lookers. After a few moments of watching this, they asked him why he was so excited. He replied, "With all this manure in the room, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Ed Vasicek)
Joseph was faithful in his circumstances but also to his character and convictions. Shortly after arriving in Eqypt he faced a sexual temptation as the king’s wife solicited him for sex. He did not yield to the temptation. He was steadfast and secure in his convictions and in his character. It is inspiring to see someone who is faithful to his convictions.
Illustration: The story of William Tyndale is one such example. William Tyndale could have enjoyed a life of comfort instead he died a martyr. Many know his name. They know he’s important. But they know little of his life of profound sacrifice. Born in 1494, Tyndale was a brilliant linguist with a passion to translate the Greek New Testament into English language, something the English-speaking world lacked. His bishops warned him not to do it, however, because they believed that the “common person” should not have the Bible in a language they could understand. In hiding in Europe, William saw his dream come true in February 1526 when six thousand copies of the English New Testament were completed. Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall didn’t approve of the Scriptures being translated into English. He hired August Packington to pay whatever necessary in order to buy all the Bibles and destroy them. Tyndale cooperated willingly in the plan. Why? He was paid an exorbitant amount. He knew he would be able to afford to do higher quality translation and be able to produce far more Bibles. That is exactly what he did. In a very short time, Tyndale was peppering England with Bibles, hidden in sacks of flour and bales of corn. And he kept on the move so that King Henry VIII of England could not find him, that is, until a man named Henry Phillips turned him in. His pursuers found him on May 21, 1535. William Tyndale was strangled and his body was burned at the stake in 1536. As he gasped his last breath, he cried out, “Lord! Open the king of England’s eyes.” And that prayer was answered! Two years later, in 1538, the king reversed himself and issued a royal injunction that required a copy of the Bible to be available in every parish church in England. Tyndale won the cause, but lost his life in the process. Convictions can be costly.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Michael McCartney)
However, praise God for the person who hangs onto his convictions.
3. The third and final word I want you to remember is the word Focused. Joseph remained focused on God’s plan for his life. Yes, he was a slave in Egypt. Yes, he faced a bum rap. Yes, he had a bad situation. However, he focused on the sovereignty of God in his life. Focus is such a powerful force.
Illustration: When I was a boy I learned the power of focus. I learned that you could take a magnifying glass, focus the sun’s rays through the lens, and start a fire.
Joseph was focused on the fact that God could bring good from his bad situation.
Illustration: Judy taught me that you can take something bad and make good from it. She once made me some fried grits. She cooked some grits and allowed them to dry in the boiler. After they were dried she sliced the hardened grits, floured them and fried them like French fries. Joseph believed God could take a bad situation and transform it into a positive.
Illustration: You have heard me mention, on more than one occasion, the name of Chuck Colson. Colson was Richard Nixon’s right hand mad during the Watergate crisis. Chuck went to prison for his crimes. However, from that experience he came to faith in Christ and used his experience to build the largest prison ministry in the world.
The successful person is the person who believes that God can take the hurts, the pains, and the disappointment of your life and use them to help others and bring glory to His name.
In 1809, Simon Renee Braille and his wife Monique welcomed their fourth child into the world-- a lively boy named Louis. They lived in a small stone house near Paris where Braille was the local harness maker. Leather working tools are dangerous, so the toddler had been instructed not to go into his father’s shop alone. But when Louis was still small, he slipped into the shop, and with curiosity started to handle all the fascinating tools. As Louis was inspecting an awl, the sharp tool used to punch holes in leather, he slipped and punctured a part of his eye with the tool. The injured eye became infected. The little boy could not keep his hands from rubbing and scratching the wound, and soon the infection spread to his other eye as well. When Louis was only 4, he became completely blind. Louis was fortunate enough to study at the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris. He excelled as an organist, and at twelve years old began asking the question “How can the blind read?” Over his summer break at home, Louis was determined to find the answer. As He moved and groped around his father’s shop in search of the right tool for his task, the awl presented itself as perfect for the job. The awl would make the raised dots he had seen in the French military system of “night writing.” And with the very instrument that had blinded him, Louis worked and worked until he had created a system of dots whereby the blind could read and write, work math problems and compose music. What is your awl--The thing that has crippled you, either by your own doing like young Louis, or someone else’s? Is it a divorce, the death of someone you love, a lost career? Let God take it, and use it in your life for good—to reshape you or comfort others.
(Source: SermonCentral staff. Citation: Joseph E. Sullivan. “Louis Braille.” http://www.braillerman.com/louis.html)
You can be a success! If you live by faith, remain faithful, and focus on God’s sovereign will for your life you will be a success. God has that in mind for every individual.
